This year marks the 50th anniversary of the tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
Research is still in progress to determine if there are links between playing D&D and enhanced empathy and social skills, but the real-life impact of D&D therapy is slowly gaining traction as staff of counseling practices that have embraced D&D group therapy say they are witnessing these benefits firsthand.
At the heart of D&D lies the power of imagination.
The show boosted D&D’s popularity so much that Hasbro released a Stranger Things D&D starter set.
Monsters and villains like the Demigorgon and Vecna are even named after real D&D baddies.
The tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Roleplaying and fighting are combined to create an immersive gaming experience in Dungeons & Dragons, a game that encourages creativity and imagination. And now that it has the potential to be useful as a group therapy technique, psychologists and therapists are trying to turn it into a tool.
Research on the potential connections between D&D gaming and improved social and empathy skills is still ongoing, but staff members of counseling centers that have adopted D&D group therapy report firsthand experiences with the benefits of D&D therapy, which is gradually gaining traction in the real world.
“Gary Colman, the chairman of Game Therapy UK, a registered charity run by volunteer professionals who are creating evidence-based therapeutic gaming projects, explained that it seems especially useful in combating the effects of social isolation and improving both interpersonal skills and intrapersonal skills (problem-solving).”. Practically speaking, it can also be applied to a variety of tasks, such as teaching fundamental academic subjects like language and numeracy and soft social skills as well as modeling positive behavior. “.
What is D&D?
The ability to use imagination is central to D&D. The role of all non-player characters (NPCs) and monsters is assumed by the Dungeon Master (DM), who also sets the scene and unlocks the game’s creative potential.
The abilities and personalities of the characters are customized by the players so they can take part in roleplaying games, act out scenes with NPCs to advance the plot, or fight scary monsters like gloomstalkers and bugbears. Players can work through a longer campaign that spans weeks or even years by playing short, multi-hour gaming sessions combined with one another.
Dave Arneson and Ernest Gary Gygax created the game in 1974. TSR, Inc. is Gygax’s company. (Tactical Studies Rules) grew gradually into a multimillion dollar company but suffered decades of financial and leadership problems. In the end, Wizards of the Coast, the business behind Magic: The Gathering, purchased TSR in 1997; hasbro would later purchase Wizards of the Coast in 1999.
Despite its modest beginnings as a niche fantasy game played only by nerds, D&D has become incredibly popular, in part because of Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things. Sales of the game have increased to a level not seen in thirty years since the premiere of the show in 2016. Fans of Stranger Things who wanted to learn how to play D&D like their favorite characters could even access D&D tutorials on Netflix. Hasbro released a Stranger Things D&D starter set because the show increased D&D’s popularity so much.
In Stranger Things, D&D plays a pivotal role in the main characters’ quest to discover more about the fabled “Upside Down” realm in their town. This is in contrast to other television shows where it has made appearances, like The X-Files or The Big Bang Theory. Even D&D villains like Vecna and the Demigorgon have names derived from their real-life counterparts.
The effects of the Satanic Panic movement of the 1980s on D&D are also depicted truthfully in Stranger Things. Religious extremist organizations spearheaded the Satanic Panic, arguing that D&D encouraged violence, teen suicides, witchcraft, and idolatry of the devil. In the early 1980s, the game was banned from many schools due to strong opposition, and all devils and demons were eliminated in the second edition. In the end, this contributed to the game’s increased popularity and proved that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
The first season of the show features references to the Satanic Panic, including Will’s disappearance, which was modeled after the actual disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III, a student at Michigan State University, in August 1979, which served as a catalyst for the Satanic Panic movement. Detectives working the case thought D&D had inspired Egbert to hide in the steam tunnels at his school, but Egbert III later denied this theory. Egbert III reappeared a month later. In Stranger Things, Will finds his family again, but a month after making a reappearance, Egbert III took his own life.
